International News

International Women’s Day began as a day of rebellion and outlandish demands – Equal pay! Votes for women! Reproductive rights! – but 101 years later, judging by the invitations in my email inbox, it seems to be more about jazzy corporate lunches, poetry competitions and praising our valued sponsors. At the UN, in a session on body image and the ...

How can a newspaper do justice to the 400 British dead in Afghanistan? Design vies with space when the numbers involved are so large. Using Datablog data, designer Kari-Ruth Pedersen created this memorial page for the newspaper and has added in the soldiers named by the Ministry of Defence today. Click on the image below to view it full screen ...

Mar 9, 2012 Indian growth falters along with Congress By Robert M Cutler MONTREAL – Poor election results for India’s ruling Congress party, including a crushing defeat for heir apparent Rahul Gandhi, offer little hope it will have the strength to push through policies to boost slowing economic growth while curbing persistently high inflation that is hurting voters’ in their ...

CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, said on Thursday he would urge President Bashar al-Assad and his foes to stop fighting and seek a political solution, drawing angry rebukes from dissidents. Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy on Syria, attends an after-meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al Araby at the Arab League headquarters ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street opened higher on Thursday as strong uptake by investors in Greece’s debt swap fed optimism a deal could be completed by a deadline later in the day, staving off a messy default. A Greek official said the percentage of debtholders accepting a deal was very high, adding the government was hopeful ahead of a ...

AFP – China has blocked purchases of Airbus planes by Chinese companies in reaction to a disputed European carbon tax, the head of the Airbus parent company EADS said on Thursday. “Airbus is subjected to retaliation measures,” EADS chief executive Louis Gallois told a press conference as he presented annual results, adding: “The Chinese government rejects (refuses) to approve airlines’ ...

REUTERS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday he would fight with everything he has to win a second term but will bow out of politics if he loses an April-May election. Sarkozy, who is badly lagging Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in opinion polls six weeks before the first round of voting, said Hollande’s lack of ministerial or international ...

Washington: US President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday a cut in fees on many government-backed mortgages that he said could help millions of homeowners refinance, part of an election-year push to boost the shaky US housing market. Under the plan, a typical borrower with a loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration could save $1,000 a year by refinancing into ...

Photos GUANAJUATO, Mexico – (AP) — Walking uphill on cobblestone, I am struck by the altitude’s perfect mix of hot sun and crisp air. A street vendor’s cry echoes in a canyon of brightly colored stucco facades, and I can’t help think this mystical, medieval-looking city is my favorite on Earth. Though I hate to choose among Mexico’s colonial beauties, ...